Archive for the ‘2015 Municipal Elections’

The 2015 election is over, and we had some successes and some challenges. Fortunately, our candidate, Kristin Combs, gained the most votes of any Green Party candidate in Philadelphia since our Party was formed at the turn of the century. Unfortunately, some Green Party activists did not participate in Kristin’s exciting campaign. This gives us quite a bit of work to do now that the election is behind us.
We have all had time to reflect upon the election, and it is now time for us to resume our work to build the Green Party. I hope that each of us will choose some activity from the following list of tasks.

Task: Recruiting Green Party Candidates
Yes, we have already approached five movement organizations about running a candidate on the Green Party ballot for PA State Representative in 2016, and we have not yet heard from any interested parties. This is not surprising because we are asking organizations to do something out of the ordinary. Many groups are stuck in a rut. Maybe you are a member of such an organization.
We are looking for neighborhood or activist organizations which would like to publicize their cause by using the Green Party ballot line for one of their members to run for office. The candidate should be accepting of Green Party values, but that would allow us to work with democracy, peace, feminist, labor union, anti-mass-incarceration, pro-living-minimum-wage and anti-discrimination activists.
Do you know of some organizations to contact about this proposal?

Task: Organizing Campaign Workers
On November 4, I polled the members of GPOP News and GPOP Chat to find their thoughts about Kristin’s campaign. You have already read the results of that poll, which was posted to you on November 16 as “EOW Group Report #3.”
I followed that by preparing “Volunteers Necessary for Electoral Success,” which was posted on December 4. I hope that you took the time to read this piece, because it explains the importance of the work we are doing right now. As you know from the personal email to you, Kristin Combs won the election at your polling place (and at the other polling places with volunteers from the EOW Group).
Please make use of this when you contact friends and neighbors about volunteering for Green Party candidates in 2016.

Task: Building an Infrastructure to Win Elections
Our forces are still inadequate to the task at hand, but that is understandable considering that the EOW Group is only three months old. We have a long-term project ahead of us to change society through electoral means.
Basically, we need people to work with us on future campaigns by Green Party candidates. At the most rudimentary level, this means working the polls each election day, as you have already done this year. Later this month, I will be contacting the people who volunteered for Kristin Combs who are not already members of the EOW Group, and I will ask them to join us. Organizing election volunteers, however, is only one element in building the infrastructure we need.
There are many additional tasks which we can do to improve the electoral success of future Green Party candidates. For instance, we really need a website, a fundraising committee, and an email list-serve. A publicity committee to produce press releases, yard signs and flyers (leaflets) is another necessary component of our work.
Can you help with any of the above projects? Do you have any of these skills? If not, are you ready to learn these skills?

I know that sounds like a lot of things for any one person to do, and I have no intention to do everything myself. We should work together, and we should each take one step at a time. Please decide which step will be your next one, and then let me know.

Thank you and Happy Holidays,
Chris Robinson, 215-843-4256
nwgreens@yahoo.com
City Committee Member at LargeGreen Party of Philadelphia

PS: According to a motion approved by the GPOP membership on September 30, 2015, the EOW Group has three tasks: “recruiting Green Party candidates who will campaign for office; organizing people to work on those campaigns; and building an infrastructure that will be able to win electoral campaigns.”
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“There are two ways that a theoretician goes astray. 1) The devil leads him around by the nose with a false hypothesis (for this he deserves pity). 2) His arguments are erroneous and ridiculous (for this he deserves a beating).” — Albert Einstein, letter to Hendrik Lorentz, quoted in New York Times, “Finding Relativity” by Dennis Overbye, November 24, 2015.

There is a false hypothesis which is commonly expressed within the Green Party. This hypothesis makes it difficult for Green Party candidates to build a wide-spread electoral movement which (in time) will be able to win elections. It is important for us to discuss this hypothesis because it stands in the way of our efforts to build the Green Party.

The Hypothesis
At the November 2014 monthly meeting of the Green Party of Philadelphia (GPOP), an active member said that statistics have shown him that voters go to the polls with their minds made up. Therefore, he continued, it is a waste of time for members to volunteer at the polls for a Green Party candidate. A similar hypothesis is sometimes voiced at quarterly meetings of the Green Party of Pennsylvania. It would be tragic if this hypothesis has convinced Green Party members to stay at home, instead of volunteering to build our party.

Personally, I have never seen any such statistics, and this hypothesis runs counter to the basic strategy of the Green Party. GPOP has relied since its creation on building rank-and-file support for our candidates at the polls. Fortunately, there is quite bit of evidence contradicting this hypothesis, and I hope to demonstrate to you that this hypothesis is incorrect. I would like to relate some of my experiences with electoral campaigns during the last twelve years, which may shed some light on this topic.

Inconsistency or Social Causation
The first Green Party electoral campaign in which I volunteered was Tom Hutt’s campaign for Philadelphia City Council District 8 in 2003. During that campaign in the early days of the GPOP, I found it interesting that some divisions (precincts) had a very small vote for Hutt, while in other divisions he actually won the election.
This seemed like an inconsistency to me: Why would divisions with similar economic/ethnic demographics have such widely different counts for the Green Party candidate? Notably, Hutt was able to cover very few polling places with volunteers, though he had tried to recruit as many as possible. Could that have caused the variation in voting for a Green candidate? I began to follow election results more closely in following years, to determine if this was a natural inconsistency or if there was a social causation for it.

Ward Results: 2007 through 2015
In the 2007 Philadelphia City Council election, the Green Party’s candidate for District 8, Brian Rudnick, received 1,100 votes (four percent). At the end of the campaign, I wrote, “Rudnick’s campaign for City Council focused on three wards (Chestnut Hill’s Ward 9, Mount Airy’s Ward 22, and Germantown’s Ward 59), where he received 81 percent of his vote. In those three wards, he had volunteers in 27 divisions. The other 44 divisions in those wards had no volunteers (33) or paid poll workers (11). Paid poll workers had no significant effect, and their divisions have been counted here as polls with no volunteers. Divisions with volunteers averaged three times the number of Green votes in polls with no volunteers.” [See, “Analysis of the Green Party in the Election of 2007.”]

During 2010, GPOP had 59 volunteers at the polls for Hugh Giordano’s campaign for PA State Representative in District 194. Of that number, 14 were Green Party members, 28 were from the United Food and Commercial Workers and Iron Workers, and 17 from other parties or independents. In Philadelphia, Giordano received 3,212 votes (23 percent). After the election, I wrote, “Not surprisingly, Giordano did best in his home Ward 21 (Roxborough/Manyunk), where he won six divisions (aka precincts) with 39 to 46 percent of the vote. Giordano came close to winning another six divisions with 37 to 39 percent of the vote. There was only one division in Ward 21 where Giordano received less than 20 percent of the vote. Overall, Giordano received 85 percent of his vote in Ward 21, where he averaged 86 votes/division.” Giordano had a volunteer poll worker at every division in Ward 21.

The following year, 63 volunteers worked at the polls city-wide for Green Party candidate Cheri Honkala’s campaign for Sheriff of Philadelphia. Of that number, 23 were Green Party and 40 were from other parties or independents. Honkala received 10,430 votes (seven percent) citywide. Following the election, I wrote, “Of the 66 wards, Cheri’s campaign had no poll worker in 33 of them. In those 33 wards, Cheri received 3,611 votes (35% of her total), averaging 109 votes/ward. In the 33 wards where Cheri did have poll workers, she received 6,819 votes (65% of her total), averaging 207 votes/ward.” [See, “History of Green Party Volunteers in Philadelphia Elections (2007 – 2013).”]

During 2015, the Green Party’s Kristin Combs, who campaigned for Philadelphia City Council-at-Large, received 11,366 votes (6 percent) city wide. This was the most votes ever received by a Green Party candidate running in Philadelphia. Kristin had 71 poll volunteers, 13 from GPOP and 58 from Neighborhood Networks, Temple $15 Now, and other organizations. Those volunteers worked at divisions in 22 Wards where Kristin received 7,567 votes (67 percent of her total) which was 344 votes/ward. In the 44 wards where Combs had no poll volunteers, she received 3,799 votes (33 percent of her total) which was 86 votes/ward.
Significantly, if the Green Party had been able to mobilize the same proportion of volunteers in the 44 wards where the Combs campaign had no representatives, she would have been able to double her total vote to more than 22,700. While this would not have been enough votes for Combs to have won a seat on City Council, it does demonstrate the value of volunteers at the polls.

Results within a Single Ward
I understand one problem with trying to draw conclusions from the limited, ward-based statistics presented above. A wise skeptic might say, “Perhaps the presence of a volunteer working for the candidate made no difference in the vote total. Perhaps there were differences between the economic/ethnic demographics of the wards which caused the divergence between wards which voted for Combs and those which did not – regardless of the presence of a volunteer.”

Actually, I thought that myself and attempted to answer such skepticism by looking at the votes for Combs within a single ward, in this case Germantown’s Ward 59, where I reside. Germantown has 25 divisions, where Combs received 422 votes (17/division). Interestingly, Combs had volunteers at eight of those polling places, and the polls with volunteers produced 243 of her votes (30/division). At the 17 polling places with no volunteers, Combs earned 179 votes (11/division). These numbers demonstrate that the Green Party could have increased Combs’ vote total in Germantown to 750, had the Green Party been able to mobilize 17 additional volunteers.

Conclusion
I suppose that by now you have deduced the alternative hypothesis which I am proposing. I believe that Green Party candidates cannot win elections without Green Party volunteers working the polls on election day. I think that there is now enough evidence from the campaigns of Green Party candidates during the last twelve years to demonstrate the necessity of volunteers working the polls for our candidates. I hope that in proposing this hypothesis, I will earn neither your pity nor a beating. Instead, I hope you will express your support for this hypothesis by joining me in our newly formed GPOP Electoral Operations Working (EOW) Group.
Please volunteer by telephone or email, and then forward this email to those who might be interested in helping us.

Thank you,
Chris Robinson, 215-843-4256
nwgreens@yahoo.com
City Committee Member at Large
Green Party of Philadelphia

PS: According to a motion approved by the GPOP membership on September 30, 2015, the EOW Group has three tasks: “recruiting Green Party candidates who will campaign for office; organizing people to work on those campaigns; and building an infrastructure that will be able to win electoral campaigns.”
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EOW Group Report #3, November 16, 2015
The Green Party of Philadelphia (GPOP) had one candidate on the ballot in 2015, Kristin Combs who ran for Philadelphia City Council. She was listed in a city-wide campaign for one of the minor-party, at-large seats. Kristin did an exceptional job of running a full-time campaign while, at the same time, teaching high school.

Here are some of Kristin’s accomplishments. She was 1) the first Green Party candidate to achieve city-wide ballot status since 2012, 2) the first GPOP candidate to receive the endorsement of AFSCME District Council 33 and APWU Local 7048, and 3) the first GPOP candidate to receive the endorsement of the Philadelphia chapters of Americans for Democratic Action and National Organization for Women (NOW) PAC.
As a result, Kristin earned more than 11,181 votes in the General Election on November 3. This was historically the highest vote total of any Green Party candidate running city-wide in Philadelphia. She accomplished this by convincing many voters to “split their ticket,” i.e. to vote for one Green candidate, while they were still voting with another party for the rest of the ballot.

Polling GPOP’s Membership
On November 4, members of GPOP’s Election Operations Working (EOW) Group, GPOP NEWS and GPOP Chat, received a request to evaluate the Green Party and Kristin Combs’ performance in the 2015 General Election. We received five thoughtful responses (three from GPOP Chat and two from GPOP News).
Neil Haagen, a leader of the Green Party of Centre County, PA, responding via telephone, expressed a widely-held opinion: “I think that Kristin should be congratulated for the campaign she ran. As a young school teacher with no electoral experience and zero name recognition, Kristin acquired many endorsements and the active support of labor and movement organizations. Through the dedication of time and energy, she carried out a smart campaign which drew more than 11,100 neighbors to vote for her.”

More Volunteers Required
As for our members’ thoughts on improving future Green Party campaigns, there was one overriding issue of agreement. Judy Becker, who volunteered for Kristin at a polling place in Olney (Ward 61), said, “We needed more volunteers.” There you have it: winning an election is tough work and no candidate can do it alone.
Green Party candidates have found over the last eleven years that there is one simple ingredient which will improve the vote for a candidate at any polling place – a volunteer who is present and asking neighbors for their vote. We know that this was true when Tom Hutt ran as a Green for City Council District 9 in 2004, and it has been proven to be true in nearly every election since then. [Please see “History of Green Party Volunteers in Philadelphia Elections (2007 – 2013).”]

Okay, we understand that some Greens had to work on November 3, but there were many other tasks for volunteers. Peter Applebaum pointed out, “Driving around Germantown and Mount Airy, I saw [yard] signs all over along the streets. Walking around Center City, the Northeast, South Philly, there was no evidence that Kristin was running for election.” Perhaps some Greens in Center City, the Northeast and South Philly will volunteer an hour next year to put up yard signs for future Green candidates.
Kristin Combs has complained that she faced “a near media black-out.” On this point, Peter Applebaum had another good idea for volunteers, “The Inquirer is a powerful force. In the next campaign, 1000 Green Party members should harass the Inquirer until they know enough to endorse the candidate.”
Bernadette Marie Cronin-Geller, who volunteered at the polls in Roxborough (Ward 21) for Kristin, pointed out another area in which we need more volunteers, “Folks I talked with did not know that the Green Party was a party like the Dems or Repubs. We need good literature about the Green Party and how it’s different. That will require more folks willing to educate by creative means.”

“I also think we need more experienced candidates with city-wide exposure,” continued Bernadette, “which is where Chris’ [Electoral Operations Working (EOW) Group] comes in.” The EOW Group is now recruiting Green Party candidates for 2016. They are searching for people who want to make a change and who are fed up with the current two-party, do-nothing politics. The EOW Group needs your help in contacting movement, labor and neighborhood organizations around the city.
We also received a long email via GPOP Chat from Bruce Haskins, who had six suggestions for improving Green Party electoral campaigns.

I hope that these thoughts will be helpful to future Green Party candidates. I also hope that these opinions will convince you to join the GPOP EOW Group. If you have additional suggestions, please let me know for inclusion in Report #4.
Sincerely,
Chris Robinson, 215-843-4256
nwgreens@yahoo.com
City Committee Member at Large
Green Party of Philadelphia
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Posted on 11/16/’15 to: Green Party of the U.S. ; GPOP News, Northwest Greens, and GPOP Chat.
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Minutes were taken by Chris in the absence of an elected Recording Secretary. A draft copy was circulated to those present on October 29. Additions and corrections were received from Bernadette Marie, Belinda, Eric, and Hillary. Approved minutes were posted to GPOP News on November 1, and they were posted to www.gpop.org on November 2.

1. Kristin’s Campaign for City Council-at-Large
Kristin described the excellent forum for Council-at-Large candidates, which was held on 10/27. She believes that she did quite well, and she will circulate the link for on-line viewing as soon as it becomes available.
Belinda is Kristin’s volunteer coordinator. She said the campaign has around 100 election-day volunteers, many from labor unions and other organizations which have endorsed Kristin. Here are the Combs4Council links for volunteers and for donations.
Discussion of scandals within the Democratic Party: 1) failure to discipline their wayward ward leaders, and 2) financial irregularities during the 2015 Primary Election.
Jill Stein, the 2012 Green Party candidate for POTUS, will be in Philadelphia for the 11/3 General Election.
Kristin plans to attend the 11/21 GPPA Meeting in Harrisburg, and she plans to present an analysis of her campaign.

2. Green Night Out
Hillary said that GPOP held its second successful Green Night Out on October 10, with Kristin Combs presenting the issues around her campaign. GPOP cleared around $80.00.
The next Green Night Out has been postponed until 2016.

3. GPOP Election Operations Working (EOW) Group
Chris said that the GPOP EOW Group Report was posted to GPOP News on October 19. Since that time he has been in touch with Juntos, the local organization demanding human rights for all including immigrants. When asked if they knew of a possible candidate to run on the Green Party ballot for PA State Representative in 2016, Juntos organizer Jasmine Rivera responded, “Yes, I agree the larger narrative needs to shift around human rights. And hopefully the right candidate can be found! It needs to happen.”

4. Report from GPOP City Committee Meeting
Hillary said that there was no quorum on October 14, but the members present discussed holding a fundraising party next spring to celebrate GPOP’s 15th Anniversary. Something like a potluck with entertainment at the Ethical Society.

5. Treasurer’s Report
Hillary said that GPOP has $1,400.00. The members then voted to donate $500.00 to Friends of Kristin Combs.
Hillary also held a raffle for a gourmet meal for two, with the proceeds to go to Friends of Kristin Combs. Chris won the raffle.

*The location for the November GPOP General Membership Meeting was not discussed on 10/28. We held an email poll of those present and decided upon postponing the meeting until December 2 (because our regular date falls on Thanksgiving Eve).
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By Chris Robinson
Kristin Combs spoke with members and friends of the Green Party of Philadelphia (GPOP) at Green Night Out on October 10. “I believe that the Green Party should become the political arm of today’s social justice movement,” Combs told her supporters.
She used herself as a prominent example. “I am running for City Council-at-Large in order to save our public schools,” explained Combs. “I am speaking for the Green Party and for the Caucus of Working Educators, a progressive group within the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT).”

Green Night Out is a periodic gathering which is open to the public. Green Night Out is held at Sang Kee Peking Duck House, http://sangkeechinatown.com/. The diners discuss politics while they enjoyed a Chinese feast.

Combs then explained her platform: locally controlled, high-quality public schools; a $15/hour minimum wage; neighborhood revitalization without displacement; strong, independent civilian review over the police; and a green energy hub in Philadelphia’s future. [Please find more information here.]
Kristin Combs is the only remaining LGBT candidate on the City Council ballot. She is a high school teacher whose candidacy has been widely endorsed by labor and progressive organizations, including AFSCME District Council 33, American Postal Workers Union Local 7048, Americans for Democratic Action of SE PA, Caucus of Working Educators of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, Green Party of Philadelphia, Green Party of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks, Philly for Change (affiliate of Democracy for America), Socialist Alternative, and Socialist Party USA.

When questioned, Combs explained her strategy to win one of the minor party seats on City Council, “Voters may cast five votes for City Council-at-Large. I am asking voters to ‘Push Button #426 First.’ In that way, they will use one of their five votes to elect an additional, progressive councilperson-at-large — Kristin Combs.”
“I am offering voters a chance to vote with their hearts,” said Combs. “It will be an amazing victory for Philadelphia, to have six progressive Councilpersons-at-Large – rather than just five.” [You may contribute to Friends of Kristin Combs here.]
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Chris Robinson has been a member at large of the Green Party of Philadelphia City Committee since 2011. He can be reached at 215-843-4256 and

The campaign has begun! Please help us publicize Kristin Combs’ campaign for Philadelphia City Council Member at Large. Alex Gillett has organized a Kristin for Council presence at the Labor Day parade. I will be there, and you are invited to join us.

Alex will be at the SE corner of Washington and Delaware Avenues (Sheet Metal Workers’ Hall) beginning at 8 a.m. on Monday, September 7, with stickers and signs for the Green Party and Kristin. You will be able to mingle with the union workers in the parking lot until the parade starts, and then march along with the marchers or find a place to stand along the parade route. The idea is to spread out and look as big as possible. (The official Labor Day announcement is below.)

Please volunteer for Kristin Combs at your polling place on Tuesday, November 3.
Send your contact information to the Green Party of Philadelphia, c/o Chris Robinson, chrisrecon@netzero.net, 215-843-4256.
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Green Party Candidate for Council at-Large Successfully Passes Challenge Window

PHILADELPHIA- After filing for ballot access on August 3, Green Party candidate for city council at-large, Kristin Combs, a Philadelphia public school teacher at Penn Treaty School, remained unchallenged when the window for such challenges closed. She will appear on the ballot for the general election on Tuesday, November 3.

Kristin Combs has gained momentum and endorsements from a broad coalition of groups including the prominent AFSCME District Council 33, the blue-collar union for Philadelphia’s city employees. Kate Goodman, a member of endorsing organization Socialist Alternative, says “Working class people need independent politicians who represent us, not the Chamber of Commerce. The fight for the $15 minimum wage has been led by independent workers’ organizations, like Socialist Alternative’s City Councilmember Kshama Sawant in Seattle, WA. We need a champion like Kristin Combs in Philly on City Council to fight unapologetically for the $15 minimum wage.”

There are seven at-large council seats available with a maximum of five seats going to the majority party – the Democrats. Kristin is vying for one of the two minority seats, which go to the individuals with the next highest votes; traditionally, this has meant Republicans. However, it also could mean a third party candidate, and she has a chance to win.

“If liberal voters do not vote party-line but instead allot one vote to Kristin, they assure a more progressive voice within the City Council and do not risk losing a seat for Democrats,” says Green Party Treasurer Hillary Kane. “Progressives are excited to use one of their five at-large votes on November 3 to support a candidate whose primary agenda is social and economic justice.”

For more information or to make a contribution, visit www.combs4citycouncil.com.

Endorsements:
AFSCME District Council 33, APWU Bulk Mail Center Local 748, Green Party of Philadelphia, Socialist Alternative, and Socialist Party USA (Philadelphia Local).

On August 3, Glenn Davis filed nomination papers to be the Green Party’s candidate for Philadelphia City Commissioner, the office that oversees elections. Davis is the chair of the Green Party of Philadelphia (GPOP).

After filing, Davis said, “Philadelphia now has a choice. No one has to vote for the corporate parties. They can now vote for the Green Party candidate for Philadelphia City Commissioner. When elected, I will expose corruption in the election system, register more new voters — especially young voters — and hold neighborhood informational meetings to encourage voting.”

Glenn Davis is running for City Commissioner with six objectives: open all elections to minor parties, end corruption in regulation of elections, a paper record of votes at every polling place, decent pay for polling place officials, registration and education of new voters, and instant run-off voting to achieve majority rule.

“Glenn Davis will engage the neglected voters — young people, returning citizens, and those who have been alienated from voting by corrupt officials and faulty machines,” says Paul Glover, last year’s Green Party candidate for governor of Pennsylvania.

Julian Robinson, a sophomore at Community College of Philadelphia and a member of the GPOP City Committee, is working for Glenn Davis’ campaign “because I believe in his campaign. I believe that we should have more youth involved in the voting process. Not enough youth vote or run for office. Glenn will reach out to them. I also would like to get rid of the “Party” button, so that people will vote for individual candidates.”

Another volunteer with the Davis Campaign is Jeremy R. Griffin, a sophomore at Kutztown University, who collected many nomination signatures for Davis. Griffin is an environmental activist and a docent at Wild West Philly. He is working on the campaign for Glenn Davis because, “I am not for the politics of the two corporate parties. As a registered Green Party member, who lives in Philadelphia, I believe that Glenn Davis is a man with truth and morals who I can get behind.”

Glenn Davis is a 45-year old father of three, born and raised in the Haddington neighborhood of West Philadelphia. He is on the board of directors of the Philadelphia Unemployment Project. Davis is a veteran of the U.S. Army and has served as the vice-president of Shepard Recreation Advisory Council.

Davis has been active in DecarceratePA, and he walked from Philadelphia’s Love Park to the State Capitol in Harrisburg as part of the DecarceratePA march to stop Graterford Prison’s expansion.

“Vote for Glenn Davis for Philadelphia City Commissioner,” said Cheri Honkala, the Green Party candidate for sheriff in 2011 and for vice president in 2012. Honkala continued, “a vote for Glenn Davis will demonstrate that you are serious about real change in the vital area of clean elections.”

Contributions for Glenn Davis’ Campaign for Philadelphia City Commissioner may be made here, or by sending a check or money order to “Friends of Glenn Davis,” c/o Treasurer Hillary Kane, 5031 Catharine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19143.

The Green Party is an independent political party based upon grassroots democracy, social justice, nonviolence and ecological wisdom. For more information about the Green Party, please contact 215-243-7103 and gpop@gpop.org.